thumb|A [[Romanesque art|Romanesque baptismal font from Grötlingbo Church, Sweden, carved by Sigraf, a master stone sculptor who specialised in baptismal fonts.]]
thumb|A baptismal font in [[Saint Stefan Dečanski Serbian Orthodox Church (Gothenburg)|Saint Stefan Dečanski Serbian Orthodox Church in Gothenburg, Sweden.]]
thumb|A modern baptismal font in the [[Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Houston)|Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, constructed in 2008]]
A baptismal font is an ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of infant and adult baptism.
Aspersion and affusion fonts
The earliest western fonts are found in the Catacombs of Rome. The fonts of many western Christian denominations that practice infant baptism are designed for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). The simplest of these fonts has a pedestal with a holder for a basin of water. The materials vary greatly, consisting of carved and sculpted stone (including marble), wood, or metal in different shapes. Many fonts are in octagonal shape, as a reminder of the new creation and as a connection to the Old Testament practice of circumcision, which traditionally occurs on the eighth day. Some fonts are three-sided as a reminder of the Holy Trinity to represent the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one.
left|thumb|Detail of carved baptismal font cover (created 1930s), Episcopal [[Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)]]
Fonts are often placed at or near the entrance to a church's nave to remind believers of their baptism as they enter the church to pray, since the rite of baptism served as their initiation into the Church. In Lutheran churches, the baptismal font may be located in the chancel near the altar to serve as a testament to Lutheran sacramental theology.
In many churches of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, there was a special chapel or even a separate building for housing the baptismal fonts, called a baptistery. Both fonts and baptisteries were often octagonal (eight-sided), octagonal fonts becoming more common from the 13th century and the norm from the 14th century. Saint Ambrose wrote that fonts and baptisteries were octagonal "because on the eighth day,